Abstract
Background: Adherence to subcutaneous biologic agents for the treatment of psoriasis can be negatively influenced by injection pain.Objective: To explore the differences in injection site pain when patients are pre-treated with heat or cold, versus no pre-treatment prior to administration of a subcutaneous biologic agent.Methods: In an observational cohort study, patients receiving subcutaneous injections of ustekinumab were randomly assigned to receive pretreatment with ice, heat, or no intervention over three visits. Post-dose, patients rated pain on a 100 mm visual analogue scale (VAS).Results: There was an increase in the VAS score for both heat (2.51, P=0.30) and ice (3.33, P=0.16), compared to no intervention. No differences were found between the two intervention groups (-0.83, P=0.73). On average, females had the same VAS scores with ice compared to that of no intervention (-0.12, P=0.97) and a non–significant decrease of 3.29 points (P=0.38) with heat. Males had increased pain scores by 5.65 points (P=0.07) with ice and by 6.39 points (P=0.04) with heat.Limitations: Pain is a subjective measurement and objective quantification is difficult.Conclusions: On average, neither heat nor cold application reliably reduced pain. Our results do not support the application of heat or cold prior to ustekinumab injection.
Published Version
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call